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BLS - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Kansas City Area Employment – February 2020

News Release Information

20-556-KAN
Wednesday, April 08, 2020

Total nonfarm employment for the Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 1,092,800 in February 2020, up 15,400, or 1.4 percent, over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, nonfarm employment nationwide rose 1.6 percent. Acting Regional Commissioner Susan Mendez noted that February marked the seventh consecutive month in which the Kansas portion of the MSA added more jobs over the year than the Missouri portion. (See chart 1and table 1; the Technical Noteat the end of this release contains metropolitan area definitions. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

The Kansas City metropolitan area is comprised of two separately identifiable employment centers-the Missouri portion and the Kansas portion of the MSA. The Missouri side, which had approximately 55 percent of the area's workforce, added 3,700 jobs (+0.6 percent) from February 2019 to February 2020, and the Kansas side added 11,700 jobs (+2.5 percent).

Mining, logging, and construction recorded the largest employment increase in the area, adding 4,700 jobs since February 2019. The Kansas City metropolitan area had a 9.8-percent local rate of job growth in this supersector.

Education and health services had the next largest employment increase, adding 3,000 jobs from February 2019 to February 2020. The increase was entirely attributable to an increase of 3,700 jobs in the Kansas portion. The 1.9-percent rate of growth in the local area compared to the national growth rate of 2.7 percent for this supersector.

Metropolitan area employment data for March 2020 are scheduled to be released on Friday, April 17, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor between State employment security agencies and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Definitions. Employment data refer to persons on establishment payrolls who receive pay for any part of the pay period which includes the 12th of the month. Persons are counted at their place of work rather than at their place of residence; those appearing on more than one payroll are counted on each payroll. Industries are classified on the basis of their principal activity in accordance with the 2017 version of the North American Industry Classification System.

Method of estimation. CES State and Area employment data are produced using several estimation procedures. Where possible these data are produced using a 'weighted link relative' estimation technique in which a ratio of current-month weighted employment to that of the previous-month weighted employment is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are then obtained by multiplying these ratios by the previous month's employment estimates. The weighted link relative technique is utilized for data series where the sample size meets certain statistical criteria.

For some employment series, the sample of establishments is very small or highly variable. In these cases, a model-based approach is used in estimation. These models use the direct sample estimates (described above), combined with forecasts of historical (benchmarked) data to decrease volatility in estimation. Two different models (Fay-Herriot Model and Small Domain Model) are used depending on the industry level being estimated. For more detailed information about each model, refer to the BLS Handbook of Methods.

Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, derived principally from tax reports which are submitted by employers who are covered under state unemployment insurance (UI) laws. The benchmark information is used to adjust the monthly estimates between the new benchmark and the preceding one and also to establish the level of employment for the new benchmark month. Thus, the benchmarking process establishes the level of employment, and the sample is used to measure the month-to-month changes in the level for the subsequent months.

Reliability of the estimates. The estimates presented in this release are based on sample survey, administrative data, and modeling and, thus, are subject to sampling and other types of errors. Sampling error is a measure of sampling variability--that is, variation that occurs by chance because a sample rather than the entire population is surveyed. Survey data are also subject to nonsampling errors, such as those which can be introduced into the data collection and processing operations. Estimates not directly derived from sample surveys are subject to additional errors resulting from the special estimation processes used. The sums of individual items may not always equal the totals shown in the same tables because of rounding.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on April 10, 2018. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

More complete information on the technical procedures used to develop these estimates and additional data appear in Employment andEarnings, which is available online at www.bls.gov/opub/ee/home.htm. Industry employment data for states and metropolitan areas from the Current Employment Statistics program are also available in the above mentioned news releases and from the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.